I was writing my thesis in word document. Now, out of the blue my guide has asked me to use latex format for writing the thesis. I am really bound by the tight timeline right now. I don’t have time to learn this in addition to doing my PhD. Can anyone explain in brief what latex is? Any shortcuts so that what I have written so far doesn’t go waste?

Latex is basically a system used for creating documents that r way more professional looking. Though I haven’t personally used Latex, I have seen others using it and the doc is coded using some syntax. And, I was told that its quite easy to learn. I know that you don’t have time to spare for this, still later if u’d like to know some basics about Latex check this out: https://www.sharelatex.com/learn/Creating_a_document_in_LaTeX

Since you have already started preparing your thesis in word, as a quick fix what I would suggest is you can continue to write the thesis in Word format and convert it later into Latex format through software. GrindEQ is one such software, though it is a paid service. It has different modules that enables u to convert from word to latex and vice-versa. That way, u needn’t waste your time learning how to develop your thesis in latex.